Professional Distributor - 36

Demonstrations that sell
Impulse add-ons sell even more.

H
BY ALAN SIPE
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Alan W. Sipe has spent the last 42
years in the basic hand tool industry
including positions as president of
KNIPEX Tools North America, senior
vice president of sales and marketing at Klein Tools, manager of special
markets at Stanley Tools, and sales
manager at toolbox manufacturer
Waterloo Industries. Currently, Sipe
is the owner of Toolbox Sales and
Consulting, a company specializing
in sales strategy, structure, development, and training. Sipe can be
reached at alansipe@gmail.com or
847-910-1063.

ow many times have you walked into
Costco for a $4.99 rotisserie chicken and
came out with the chicken, barbecue ribs,
wine, a T-shirt and a cool new "something" you
never knew you needed?
A research article on statista.com states that,
depending on the age group, impulse and add-on
sales account for between 35 and 50 percent of purchases. Those numbers seem a little high to me, but
no matter how you look at it, impulse and add-on
sales drive a lot of revenue for today's retailers.
Think about your own tool and equipment sales.
Are you getting your share of the impulse or addon market?
This month's Go Sell Something topic is product
demonstrations. In addition, we're going to focus
on how to weave impulse sales into your personal
product demonstrations.
Demonstrations are the key to moving a technician up to your product's price point. As you develop
your demonstrations, be sure to include the product
benefits that make your product better, faster, safer,
or more heavy duty than the competition. Customers
need to be told and shown what makes your product
better than the competition so they can justify purchasing your product at the price you've set.
Here's an example. You go into your grocer on
the way home to get some spaghetti sauce. There are
four products available, each at different price points.
The bargain brand is $2.99, the store brand is $3.99,
the national brand is $4.99, and a brand you've never
heard of is $6.50. Which will you purchase? Since
your spouse didn't tell you what brand to get, you'll
probably pick a popular national brand unless that
$6.50 spaghetti sauce catches your attention.
You notice that it's in a cool-looking jar, so you
pick it up and begin to read the label.
Feature: Salt
Advantage: Low in sodium
Benefit: It's healthy
Feature: Sugar
Advantage: Low in sugar
Benefit: That's healthy too
Feature: Made at the farm with tomatoes picked
the day they're processed

36 Professional Distributor I October 2020 I VehicleServicePros.com

Iqoncept/Dreamstime

Advantage: F
resh tomatoes you think to
yourself: "I like fresh tomatoes"
Benefit: Farm fresh taste
Feature: M
ade with spices imported from Old
World Italy
Advantage: Where spaghetti was invented
Benefit: Tastes "perfecto"

RESULT: SOLD!
This may sound like old-school sales tactics, but feature, advantage, benefit, and closing (FABC) works.
It was efficient back when you were called a Wagon
Jobber, and FABC still works today now that we
have mobile stores.
I went on a popular automotive warehouse
distributor website and looked at a new aluminum
manifold gauge set. Under the heading "Features
and Benefits," here's what I found:
* Professional series
* 72" charging hoses
* R134a manual service couplers
* Valve core tool included
* R134a can tap and thermometer included

http://www.statista.com http://www.VehicleServicePros.com

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